But once police were aboard the plane, it would have been hard to walk away, especially if they did not know why the passenger was asked to leave, said Kevin Murphy, executive director of the Airport Law Enforcement Agencies Network.
Mr Munoz was asked if Mr Dao, who has been undergoing treatment at a Chicago hospital, was at fault. Her video has since been retweeted 167,267 times.
"It's not so much what I thought, it's what I felt", he told ABC.
Munoz issued another apology about the incident after initially downplaying it earlier in the week. But many people who abhor violence of any kind will no longer "fly the friendly skies" with United.
The truly horrific event that occurred on this flight has elicited many responses from all of us: outrage, anger, disappointment.
The apology came amid a torrent of criticism of the carrier's actions on a Sunday flight and its initial explanations.
"No one should ever be mistreated this way", Munoz said.
"We nearly felt like we were being taken hostage", Tyler Bridges said. An Associated Press story points out that previous year, United Airlines forced 3,765 passengers to surrender their seats on oversold flights, and another 62,895 voluntarily gave up their seats. He also pledges to review the company's policies. "I was hired to make United better and we've been doing that and that's what I'll continue to do".
In the midst of statements released by the airline, CNBC obtained an email that was sent out to the staff of United.
Barcelona star Neymar to miss intense El Classico fixture
After the Madrid derby ended in a draw a victory at La Rosaleda would have sent Barcelona level with Madrid on 72 points. BARCELONA star Neymar will miss the El Clasico after receiving a two match following his sending off against Malaga .
Munoz promised to change policies after a video went viral. But Oscar Munoz later began defending his employees, describing the passenger as "disruptive and belligerent".
Calls for a boycott of the airline have appeared on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.
Regardless of whether United was within its rights - or whether, as was later learned, the passenger had been convicted of drug-related offenses in 2005 - the company made a colossal public relations blunder.
United has about 20 percent of total U.S. United had other plans and asked him to deplane after he had settled into his seat on the plane to make way for "someone more important" and threatened to put him in handcuffs if he didn't comply.
"Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this", the CEO wrote in his first comments, saying that United was sorry that some passengers had to be "re-accomodated".
The world's biggest long-haul airline has taken a swipe at USA rivals before, most notably in a 2015 ad campaign that showed Jennifer Aniston being offered peanuts and a hand towel by American-accented flight attendants, before waking to find herself cosseted in the flat-bed seat of an Emirates superjumbo.
Jet Blues: On Valentine's Day 2007, storms left 130,000 JetBlue Airways passengers stranded, with some travelers stuck on the tarmac for up to 10 hours.
But if no one volunteers, airlines have the right to offload passengers, and even get security involved. "You're relying on the airline". "In this situation, there could be more to it than the video lets on", he added. Flight 3411 was full but not overbooked.
In addition, an Emirates advert has taken a swipe at United Airlines.
Comments